Tags:
Journalism of Courage
These things have always happened in Bihar. What is different, now, is the very public fuss they provoke. Powerful RJD candidates in Bihar, even those with no relative conveniently perched in the Union cabinet in Delhi, have probably always swaggered about with arms, ammunition, liquor, cash and bad intentions on polling day. Vijay Prakash Yadav, RJD candidate from Jamui and brother of Union minister of State for Water Resources Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, found himself on the wrong side of the timeline. When he was discovered to be in possession of a rifle, live cartridges, an improvised explosive device, liquor bottles and quite a few lakhs of rupees, he was arrested. Not only that. When bade bhaiyya allegedly used his clout to have him released, the Election Commission stepped in. The police officer who released him was suspended, the concerned IG removed from his post, the candidate himself ordered rearrested. In other words, it8217;s a scandal, and rightly treated as such.
The RJD will protest, and it is doing so. The Congress will attach itself to its ally8217;s show of outrage. Both parties make out a case of overzealousness against the police and the EC 8212; it is pointed out that the RJD candidate in question was beaten up in public view during the arrest. There may well be questions about the manner in which the arrest was made and these should be addressed. But they do not take away either from the fact of the recovery of incriminating material from the person of the candidate, nor from the outrageous attempt allegedly made by his well-placed relative to circumvent due process. The RJD must also know its protests don8217;t carry conviction. Close on the heels of this controversy, another RJD candidate, this time from Belaganj constituency in Gaya district, was arrested on charges of moving around with illegal firearms.
